KARACHI: Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) displaced holders Wapda at the top of Group ‘A’ standings in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship after securing an eight-wicket win against Lahore Blues in Lahore on Thursday.

On the fourth and final day of the third-round encounter at the Gaddafi Stadium, SSGC claimed the remaining six wickets to bowl out Lahore Blues for 230 in the second innings with left-arm seamer Zia-ul-Haq taking three of the scalps to finish with figures of 4-55 in 15.3 overs.

The rest of the wickets were equally shared by paceman Azhar Attari (3-51) and Aamir Yamin (3-57). All-rounder Aamir had an excellent outing as he made 72 and took nine wickets in the match, including 6-44 in the first innings.

Requiring only 117, SSGC clinched their third success on the trot to top the pool standings with 24 points.

Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) chalked up their second victory to stay third in Group ‘A’ — six points behind second-placed Wapda (24) — as they defeated Faisalabad by 173 runs at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.

After closing their second innings at the overnight tally of 272-8, SNGPL needed 64.5 overs to dismiss the regional side for 167. Asif Ali slammed 61 off 82 balls with five boundaries and three sixes.

Iftikhar Ahmed, better known for batting, starred with the ball by capturing six wickets for 39 runs in 13.5 overs.

In the other Group ‘A’ fixture, Peshawar cruised to their first success in the championship when they sealed a 96-run victory against National of Pakistan (NBP) at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium in Abbottabad.

NBP, still an inexperienced side, were 171-6 at draw of stumps on Wednesday, but ended up totalling 248 all out. Young all-rounder Kamran Ghulam struck a defiant 72 after starting the day on 25. His gallant 98-ball effort included 10 fours and one six before he became a victim of occasional slow left-armer Israrullah who claimed four wickets.

Israrullah returned analysis of 4-27 in 15 overs while off-spinner Nasir Awais snared 4-69 from 26.3 overs.

Meanwhile, lanky fast bowler Ataullah starred with a rich haul of 12 wickets as Rawalpindi stunned Pakistan Television (PTV) by a handsome margin of 156 runs to bag six valuable points in their Group ‘B’ match at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi.

After adding just seven more runs to their third evening’s score of 265-8, Rawalpindi were all out for 272 with paceman Rizwan Akbar finishing with 5-56 in 21.1 overs.

PTV then messed a chase of 267 when they were bundled out for 110 in 38.3 overs. Mohammad Irfan, batting at No. 8, emerged as the top scorer with a 49-ball unbeaten innings of 39 (seven boundaries).

Ataullah backed his 7-92 in the first innings by grabbing five for 29 in 12 overs to end up with superlative match figures of 12-121.

In matches finishing early, Wapda beat Islamabad by six wickets in a two-day finish on Tuesday; United Bank Limited decimated Fata by innings and 130 runs, Habib Bank Limited clinched a 29-run victory against Lahore Whites while Karachi Whites suffered a third straight loss when Khan Research Laboratories nailed them by 130 runs.

The fourth-round matches are scheduled to start on Sunday.

Scores and results on Thursday (final day of four):

Third round:

Group ‘A’:

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: SNGPL beat Faisalabad by 173 runs.

SNGPL 241 in 92.4 overs (Ali Waqas 58, Bilawal Bhatti 45 not out, Mohammad Rizwan 38, Misbah-ul-Haq 21; Ahmed Safi 4-66, Asad Raza 3-52, Ibtisam Sheikh 2-39) and 272-8 declared in 74.3 overs (Taimur Sultan 102, Imran Butt 71, Iftikhar Ahmed 34; Ahmed Safi 4-68, Saeed Ajmal 3-43); FAISALABAD 173 in 76.5 overs (Asif Ali 48, Hasan Mahmood 27; Imran Khalid 4-66, Bilawal Bhatti 3-31) and 167 in 64.5 overs (Asif Ali 61, Hasan Mahmood 28, Ibtisam Sheikh 28; Iftikhar Ahmed 6-39, Bilawal Bhatti 2-30).

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: SSGC bt Lahore Blues by eight wickets.

LAHORE BLUES 291 in 88 overs (Saad Nasim 123, Irfan Haider 50, Salman Ali Agha 30, Zain-ul-Hasnain 29; Aamir Yamin 6-44, Zia-ul-Haq 2-55) and 230 in 89.3 overs (Raza Ali Dar 71, Waqas Saleem 52, Farhan Khan 36 not out; Zia-ul-Haq 4-55, Azhar Attari 3-51, Aamir Yamin 3-57); SSGC 405 in 97.1 overs (Fawad Alam 105, Aamir Yamin 72, Zain Abbas 46, Awais Zia 38, Mohammad Irfan 25; Bilawal Iqbal 4-78, Shahid Nawaz 3-72, Salman Ali Agha 2-71) and 117-2 in 25.1 overs (Zain Abbas 45, Adil Amin 26 not out).

At Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad: Peshawar bt NBP by 96 runs.

PESHAWAR 264 in 63.2 overs (Jamaluddin 47, M. Imran Khan 32, Ubaidullah 29, Ashfaq Ahmed 28, Nasir Awais 26, Gohar Ali 25; Altaf Ahmed 6-57, Mohammad Ismail 2-68) and 334 in 66.3 overs (Ubaidullah 66, Sahibzada Farhan 51, Ashfaq Ahmed 37, Jamaluddin 36, Mehran Ibrahim 35, Gohar Ali 34, Israrullah 25; Raza Hasan 6-101, Altaf Ahmed 2-60); NBP 254 in 66.2 overs (Rameez Raja 150, Ali Asad 63; M. Imran Khan 4-76, Israrullah 3-18, Nasir Awais 2-48) and 248 in 78.3 overs (Kamran Ghulam 72, Ali Asad 44, Faizan Khan 31, Rameez Raja 28; Israrullah 4-27, Nasir Awais 4-69, Taj Wali 2-39).

Group ‘B’:

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Rawalpindi bt PTV by 156 runs.

RAWALPINDI 251 in 68.2 overs (Ataullah 53 not out, Sarmad Hameed 52, Naved Malik 46, Umair Masood 45; Tabish Khan 4-59, Hasan Mohsin 3-49, Saud Shakeel 2-7) and 272 in 80 overs (Babar Hussain Agha 66, Behram Khan 52, Umar Waheed 48, Sarmad Hameed 28, Naved Malik 26; Rizwan Akbar 5-56, Saud Shakeel 2-12, Mohammad Irfan 2-36); PTV 257 in 91.1 overs (Taimur Khan 73 not out, Adnan Mahmood 55, Faisal Khan 48; Ataullah 7-92, Abid Hasan 2-25) and 110 in 38.3 overs (Mohammad Irfan 39 not out; Ataullah 5-29, Abid Hasan 2-13, Nazar Hussain 2-46).

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2017